Detectives from local, state and federal agencies arrested more than 100 people in Broward County over the past few days on a host of charges ranging from prostitution to child pornography.
The two-day operation ended Saturday morning with 132 arrests, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The sweep included the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, state agencies and police from Hollywood, Lauderhill, Sunrise and Hallandale Beach.
Detectives targeted prostitutes, online predators and drug dealers, Moschella said. She said police seized four guns, 1,842 prescription pills, 407 pounds of marijuana, 3.4 kilos of heroin, 877 grams of cocaine, eight cars and more than $63,000 in cash.
In addition to the vice arrests, two men were arrested for possession of child pornography, Moschella said.

Broward raids: More than 100 arrested in Broward crime sweep — South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Soldiers wait for news of fellow soldiers after a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

By Robin Abcarian, Ashley Powers and Josh Meyer of LA Times
Reporting from Ft. Hood, Texas, Washington and Los Angeles — An Army psychiatrist who was about to be deployed to Iraq allegedly armed himself with two guns and opened fire Thursday afternoon on the grounds of Ft. Hood, the country’s largest military base, killing 12 people and injuring 31 others.

Associated Press last reported at 2:30am that 13 are dead and 30 wounded in this horrific rampage that took place at Fort hood in Texas on Thursday. Suspected shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who was shot four times, is on a ventilator and unconscious in a hospital.

Officials said that soldiers and civilians ripped apart their clothes to make bandages for fallen colleagues, many of whom were waiting at the base’s Soldier Readiness Center for medical and dental exams before deployment. The attack shocked the country and raised questions about base security.

The suspected gunman, who initially was thought to have died, was wounded and in stable condition under guard at a hospital. Identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, he worked at the Darnall Army Medical Center, Ft. Hood’s hospital. The facility has an extensive program to help soldiers deal with the stress of returning from war.

Base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said at a news conference Thursday evening that Hasan was shot multiple times by a female civilian Army police officer, who was also injured. The suspect reportedly had not spoken with investigators, and Cone would not say anything more about him.

A senior U.S counter-terrorism official said Thursday night that the Army and FBI were looking into whether Hasan, who is Muslim, had previously come to the attention of federal law enforcement officials as the suspected author of inflammatory Internet comments likening suicide bombers to heroic soldiers who give their lives to save others.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said that authorities would examine Hasan’s actions in the months leading up to the rampage in part to determine whether authorities had missed warning signs. “This is going to be a long and convoluted and messy investigation,” the official said.

Although three other soldiers were briefly taken into custody, Cone said he believed that the gunman acted alone.

President Obama lamented the attack as a “horrific outburst of violence” and promised justice. “We are going to stay on this,” he said.

“These are men and women who have made the selfless decision” to protect the nation, Obama said of the victims. “It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.”

Hasan, a Virginia native, worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before his transfer to the Texas base in July. Army officials with access to Hasan’s records told the Associated Press that he had received a poor performance evaluation at Walter Reed.

In a post on the website scribd.com that appears to be from May, a writer named “NidalHasan” likened a suicide bomber to a soldier who jumps on a grenade to save the lives of his fellow officers in that both were sacrificing their lives “for a more noble cause.”

That cause, he wrote, “is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan.”

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) told NBC News that Hasan was about to be deployed to combat for the first time “and was upset about it.” Hasan’s cousin, Nadar Hasan, a lawyer in northern Virginia, told Fox News that deployment was his cousin’s “worst nightmare.”

The shooting broke out about 1:30 p.m. Central time at the Soldier Readiness Center. About 50 meters away, Cone said, 138 soldiers were preparing to go through a 2 p.m. college graduation ceremony before 600 guests.

“Thanks to the quick reaction of several soldiers,” Cone said, “they were able to able to close off the doors to that auditorium.” That action, he said, saved lives.
Cone said he did not believe that the weapons involved in the attack — one of them a semiautomatic — were military-issued.

The rules for carrying weapons on an Army post are standard throughout all bases, service officials said. The only personnel allowed to openly display weapons on the base are military police, said Lt. Col. Nathan Banks, an Army spokesman.
Service weapons are checked daily and are usually only allowed to be removed from an arms room for training on a range or maintenance. Personal weapons must be kept locked and registered with the base provost marshal. The military police keep a record of all of the weapons on a base, Army officials said.

The military has not released the names of those who were wounded or killed.

Lisa Pfund, the mother of a 19-year-old soldier, Amber Bahr, told a Milwaukee TV station that her daughter had been shot in the abdomen and was in stable condition. “We were on the phone. She said, ‘Hi, Mommy, how you doing?’ And all of a sudden, she said, ‘I gotta go.’ ” The next call she received, Pfund said, was from an emergency room doctor.

Ft. Hood, which sprawls across 339 square miles of Central Texas Hill Country, is the world’s largest military installation. Halfway between Waco and Austin, it supports two full armored divisions: the storied 1st Cavalry Division and the 4th Infantry Division. It is the largest single employer in Texas.

The base, home to nearly 70,000 people, was locked down for about six hours. Immediately after the shooting, base residents were told to lock their doors and windows and stay inside. Families used to being separated during long deployments were separated again in a situation that to many seemed surreal.

“My friend’s husband called her from Iraq and said, ‘Isn’t it sad that I am safer over here in Iraq than you are at home?’ ” said Jessica Sullens, 28, a substitute teacher who had spent hours in a nearby Walmart parking lot, where she had dashed on an errand.

Her husband, Cpl. Thomas Sullens of the 404th Aviation Support Battalion, and their 1- and 2-year old daughters were locked down on the base — he with his motor pool and the children with a neighbor.

“This is unreal to me,” Sullens said. Her husband, she said, described the shooting as “a firefight.”

At 7:14 p.m. Central time, she said, the emergency was lifted and traffic onto the base resumed. Sullens was stuck in a line of about 150 cars that moved slowly through security gates, trying to get home.

Base personnel have accounted for more suicides than any other Army post since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with 75 tallied through this July. Nine of those suicides occurred in 2009, counting two in war zones.

Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff, has been leading an effort to reduce the number of Army suicides, which some have said is a result of long and repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three of the four brigades of the 1st Calvary Division are in Iraq. The three brigades — the first, second and third — are on their third tour. The division’s newest brigade, the fourth, has done two tours in Iraq, returning most recently in June.

Ft. Hood also is home to three of the brigades of the 4th Infantry Division. The fourth brigade is now in Afghanistan. The first brigade has done three tours in Iraq, returning most recently in March. The second brigade has also done three tours, returning most recently in September.

Ft. Hood residents were deeply shaken by Thursday’s events, even more so because Hasan is a mental health professional.

“It scares me to death,” Sullens said. “There was nothing they could have done to keep him off post because he belonged here. It’s terrifying to think he’s the one who is supposed to be making sure everyone is OK, and he himself is insane.”
Today, Cone said, Ft. Hood will observe a day of mourning.

“We will move to normalcy as soon as possible.”

FORMER MIAMI DADE JUDGE CONVICTED
A former Miami Dade judge, Phillip Davis, is now felon, convicted of fraud and money laundering for stealing money from a program he started to help inner city residents get jobs. He could get up to 30 years. He’ll be sentenced January 8th. In 1991 Davis was acquitted of bribery charges stemming from the FBI sting, “Operation Court Broom”.

HOLLYWOOD CRA DIRECTOR FIRED
Hollywood Commissioners voting to fire the city’s “Community Redevelopment Director, Gil Martinez” for massive overspending. His department spent close to 600 thousand dollars on a Brazilian Festival, more than 400-thousand dollars over budget.

MOTHER OF 5 ACCUSED OF SELLING CRACK
An alleged crack dealer, a 35-year-old,Delray Beach single mother of 5, Elizabeth Frazier, is free on bond, busted in a sting, accused of selling crack in front of her kids. According to police, Frazier said she did it because she needed to “put a roof over her kids head”. The kids range in age from 4 to 12. The Department of Children and Families is investigating.

FBI & IRS RAID LAW OFFICE
Tomorrow, the FBI and IRS expected to provide a judge with information about the financial status of the now troubled Fort Lauderdale law firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeld and Adler. Federal agents spent the night at the firm’s 16th floor Las Olas offices looking for evidence of crimes.
Scott Rothstein allegedly cheated investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars through an investment operation he ran out of the office.

By Alexia Campbell and Sofia Santana, South Florida Sun Sentinel
November 4, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE – Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting that has sent two people to the hospital, officials said.
The shooting happened about 1 p.m. in the 100 block of Northwest First Avenue, behind a downtown McDonald’s.
None of the officers involved were seriously injured, said Fort Lauderdale police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa. He did not know to what extent the two people hospitalized were injured.
Sousa said he did not immediately have additional information about what may have happened, but police officials plan to make a statement later this afternoon.
Suzanne Nation, 47, who works at the administrative offices of the Jerk Machine restaurant, next to crime scene, said she heard four gunshots. She then heard sirens and went out to see about 10 police cars and four fire trucks.
"It was just a sea of fire trucks, police officers – oodles of them," Nation said.

SPENCE-JONES RE-ELECTED TO MIAMI COMMISSION
Miami Commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones re-elected to the Miami City Commission and in North Lauderdale, incumbent Mayor, Jack Brady re-elected and in Homestead, former City Council member, Steve Bateman is the new Mayor.

SLOTS AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT?
Miami Dade Commissioners taking a gamble on money to help finance expansion at Miami International Airport. They’ve agreed to apply for a permit to install slot machines at MIA. Some local gaming operations fear it will hurt their business. Commissioners say they don’t think so, saying the slot machines would be beyond security checkpoints.

SUSPENDED COMMISSIONER ARRAIGNED
Suspended Broward Commissioner, Joe Eggllettion will be arraigned today on corruption and money laundering charges in a federal court in Fort Lauderdale. Eggllettion now has two co-defendants: Joel Williams and Attorney Sidney Cambridge indicted yesterday.

MURDER SUSPECT TO BE TRIED AS ADULT
The young man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, 17 year old Edward Jermaine Babbs will be tried as an adult. Babbs’ attorney says his client is not guilty. Stephanie Rabsatt’s was fatally wounded, shot once in the stomach. Her body was found last month in a car parked at a Miramar Winn Dixie.

NEW JOURNEYS TRANSITIONAL HOME
FUNDRAISER
SATURDAY 1-6PM
DOLLY’S FLORIST
14700 NW 7TH AVENUE
305 769-3843
An organization that helps young women who’ve aged out of the foster care system and are homeless, “New Journey’s Transitional Home”, inviting you to their fundraiser and holiday kick off. As founder, Kathy Cole explains, “New Journeys” works with other groups to help these young women get a real start in life.

We have seen Netflix dominate the movies at home business and they are about to take the next step in providing streaming services to gaming consoles. The Instant Streaming Disc offered by Netflix will allow you to connect to your Watch Instantly Queue on your Playstation 3 console. I would personally prefer to see a add-on download as they did with the Photo Album and Playstation Home features but this will be a great option either way.

We have already seen the service become available to rival system XBox360 and we happily receive it any way possible.  You must have a valid Netflix account in order to apply.  Now I can have my $99 Roku in one room and the PS3 in the living room!

The largest U.S. retailer of consumer electronics is setting up its digital delivery service in partnership with CinemaNow, which has deals with the major movie studios.

The software making it possible to shop CinemaNow’s video library will be included on all the Web-connected devices sold in Best Buy’s more than 1,000 U.S. stores. That means consumers who buy flat-panel TVs, Blu-ray players, personal computers and mobile phones from Best Buy would be able to get downloads of videos the same day they are released on DVDs.

The alliance marks the latest step away from the DVD format. Consumers are getting more ways of finding home entertainment with just a few clicks instead of traveling to a video rental store or waiting for a disc to be delivered through the mail.

Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and DVD-by-mail pioneer Netflix Inc. all have been winning over consumers with their own digital delivery systems. Blockbuster Inc. also has a deal with CinemaNow that lets people rent movies over the Internet.

Netflix gave an indication of the growing popularity of new video-delivery methods in its earnings report last month. It said that 42 percent of its subscribers streamed at least 15 minutes of video through its Internet-viewing service during the last quarter, up from 22 percent at the same time last year.

Officials from FPL also want a $1.27 billion annual base rate increase. But critics are questioning why haven’t they just given those credits to customers and FPL response eluded that it would have offset the proposed base rate hike.

FPL attorney John Butler said lower fuel costs will drive customers’ bills down significantly, even if the proposed base rate hike is approved. Unless fuel costs fluctuate by more than 10 percent, the utility doesn’t ask to alter customers’ fuel fees before the annual hearing, he said.

How much more is FPL holding back in their fight for more?

NEW SWINE FLU VACCINE RECOMMENDATION
On a HOT 105 heart, body and soul watch: a new recommendation for pregnant women about the swine flu vaccine. The government now says expectant women only need one dose to be protected against the H1N1 virus. That’s an about face from an earlier government recommendation for two doses.

BURN SUSPECTS TRIED AS ADULTS?
Prosecutors in the Broward State Attorney office now have until November 12th to figure out if they will charge five teens as adults for allegedly setting 15 year old Michael Brewer on fire.  He remains in critical condition. Prosecutors are holding out hope, he’ll recover enough to provide them with critical information in the case.
Brewer was attacked last month, allegedly over an argument involving a bike and a video game.

MURDER SUSPECT TRIED AS ADULT?
The young man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, 17 year old Edward Jermaine Babbs, will be in a Broward courtroom this morning for a hearing. Prosecutors expected to announce whether he’ll be tried as an adult. Babbs is facing two counts of first degree murder for allegedly killing 17 year old Stephanie Rabsatt. She was 8 months pregnant. Authorities say Babbs has admitted he was the father. Rabsatt’s body was found last month in a parked car at a Miramar Winn Dixie. No word on a motive.

FPL REFUND IN JANUARY
Come January expect a refund, a credit actually of about 44 dollars from FPL. State regulators ordering the energy company to refund customers for overcharging for fuel when the energy giant actually had a fuel surplus. FPL is expected to spend 365 million on the refunds.

MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL
Mark you calendars for the Miami Book Fair International. It starts Saturday and will literally feature hundreds of authors including Gwen Ifill, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Melvin Van Peebles and the Miami Herald’s, Pultizer Prize winning columnist, Leonard Pitts. He’s out with his first published novel, “Before I Forget”.
The book fair runs through Sunday, November 15th.

AIRLINES HIKE SURCHARGE FOR HOLIDAYS
It’s going to cost more to go home for the holidays, if you’re flying. Five major airlines; American, Delta, United, US and Northwest, doubling the holiday fare-surcharge from 20 to 40 dollars on some key travel dates, starting Thanksgiving and running through New Years.